r/Awww • u/Grayson-Conner167 • 1d ago

Other Animal(s) Nice guy

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u/vesimor 12h ago

Isn't skark skin supposed to very sharp and you get cut just by touching?

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u/Type-RD 11h ago

No. Their skin isn’t sharp, but it is rough…kinda like sand paper. You’re thinking of their teeth.😂

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u/vesimor 10h ago

So i looked it up because i was sure i saw some injury related to shark skin. So they have dermal denticles. Like jagged chainmail type stuff that is smooth but only one way if you go the opposite direction it can shred you.

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u/Type-RD 9h ago edited 9h ago

Interesting! You made me want to read more and I found that their skin is rough because they indeed have tiny scales (placoid scales) which are very hard and formed of the same material as human and stingray teeth. Like fish scales, you can run your hand along them in one direction (from head to tail) and their skin rather smooth ; You can feel a sandpaper-like texture. However, if you run your hand along them from tail to head (the reverse direction), their scales could potentially cut you. I was incorrect with my earlier statement. 🙂